Leave us alone, Central European University chief tells Orbán

As the EU mulls how to deal with Hungary’s crackdown on the George Soros-funded Central European University, the university’s boss has a clear message for his critics: “I just want to be left the hell alone.”

On Wednesday, the European Commission will debate whether to take legal action against Hungary for alleged repeated violations of EU law. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is expected to address the European Parliament plenary session in Brussels.

A day later, Soros will be in Brussels for what his team describe as long-standing meetings on Roma inclusion, refugee protection, and attacks on freedoms of speech and the establishment.

Another key player in the row was in Brussels this week. The university’s president, Michael Ignatieff, formerly of Harvard and a predecessor of Justin Trudeau as leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, insists he doesn’t want a fight with Orban. “I just want to be left the hell alone” he told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook.

The problem for Ignatieff is that the fight’s already started.

The Commission is likely to take meaningful action only if the CEU’s concerns are bundled together with other fears about the rule of law in Hungary. They include a new law that limits the ability of NGOs to operate in Hungary, refugee and asylum policy moves that contravene EU agreements, and long-standing concerns about media law and court appointments.

The difficulty the EU faces is that any legal action it takes may take years to finish — and that’s too late for the CEU.

The university, established in the United States but run from a campus in Budapest, faces closure in 2018 if Orbán’s government implements a law agreed in early April governing universities in Hungary. The law was presented and agreed without public consultation.

Six hundred jobs and a lot of reputations are on the line. Students and staff from over 100 countries face the prospect of relocation or returning home.

Ignatieff said the prime minister’s office is engaged in “institutional hostage-taking.”

He said the Hungarian government refuses to talk to him and his team about possible solutions and will only talk to the U.S. government.

The U.S. State Department has made clear that it has no jurisdiction over universities and doesn’t support Hungary’s university law.

To make the situation more complicated, the Hungarian government recalled Réka Szemerkényi, its ambassador to the United States, just days after the State Department began sending chilly messages to Hungary.

Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács did not reply to POLITICO’s requests for comment.

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Tom

All you need to do is to keep Hungary’s laws, Mr. Ignatieff. You seem to be very, very unhappy with the idea.

Posted on 4/25/17 | 9:35 PM CET

guilherme

Foreign universities are legalized in most countries only when they have education activities in their home countries. The CEU is registrated in the USA having there not even a campus. Do you think that the protests are backed by the majority of Hungarian population? The urban elit of Budapest has been irritated by the “government of peasants”. Remember the accusations of “peasants” for the Brexit. It is difficult to convence the”illuminated” that the democracy is based on elections and popular vote.

Posted on 4/25/17 | 11:31 PM CET

Anna

Please fight Mr. Ignatieff – Hungarians support you. Only 7% of Hungarians think it is a good idea to close CEU, while 53% believes that it would be harmful to Hungarian higher education. People are aware that CEU is the highest-ranked university in the country, and it’s closure is against the national interest.

Posted on 4/26/17 | 8:37 AM CET

Alexandre

Abide the law or leave. It’s that simple Mr Ignatief.

Posted on 4/26/17 | 8:40 AM CET

Emanuele

The new provisions only stipulate that NGOs receiving foreign funding (above a certain amount) are recognizable as such: it seems to me to be a sign of clarity.

If such clarity “limits the ability of NGOs to operate” it only means that they thrive best in the shadows.

On the other hand, serious doubts about the NGOs’ activity have been raised in all the countries of Eastern Europe, where they are more present and operational.

The Orban initiative is all the more legitimate and justified when you consider the scandal of NGOs emerging in Italy thanks to Judiciary investigations (and to which Politico, to date, has not devoted any attention).

The same considerations apply to CEU, which only thrives through unfair competition against other Hungarian university institutions: the evidence is that the elimination of this privilege (dual validity of his degree) should lead to its closure, as the CEU itself admits.

Posted on 4/26/17 | 10:45 AM CET

Mark

@Anna,

Please provide your sources. Less than 1% of the country is standing up for the CEU, the US has apart from sending a letter refused to back them. soros cannot even get into dialogue with Orban, and has to run the the EU. Simple, CEU can follow the law or relocate, why can the other 27 foreign univiversities comply and the CEU have a special circumstance.

Posted on 4/26/17 | 10:48 AM CET

Anna

@Mark
There were two public surveys last week on the issue – one by Publicus institute another by Iranytu institute. A Hungarian link: https://www.vasarnapihirek.hu/fokusz/az_oroszokkal_toltak_el
And I wrote it incorrectly in the previous post: 63% of Hungarians disagree with the closure of CEU.
Regarding following the law: one should always differentiate between rule by law and rule of law. Lex CEU is agaijnst the rule of law as it is clearly discriminatory: it was written with the stated purpose of closing CEU in Budapest (the purpose was admitted by several people from the government including the minister responsible for the law.). The law also lacks due process as it was pushed through Parliament without consultation with anyone affected – CEU or Hungarian universities. The latter group is fully behind CEU as well as the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The law should be repealed.

Posted on 4/26/17 | 12:17 PM CET

Mark

@Anna,

I am familiar with the polls. Apart from the parties, the sampling was only 1000 people. Less than 1% of the population never turned up on the demo.

I guess now as its in the hands of the EU. We will see what punitive actions will take place.

Lets see if it reflects in the elections next year. As I know who my money is on.

Posted on 4/26/17 | 6:57 PM CET

thomas szirmay

Ignatieff failed as a PM candidate inCanada because he was never IN Canada . He can’t go home, he does not have one!!!! The CEU is the only privately funded university in Hungary NOT complying with the law. Strange, IZNIT?

Posted on 4/27/17 | 7:37 PM CET

Roland

It is really important for nations to keep control of their institutions for the indoctrination of the young. To make sure they produce loyal and productive citizens. NGO’s need to be prevented from having any say on how these institutions are run.

Posted on 4/29/17 | 8:14 AM CET

ab

Why they have a problem with running the university in compliance with legal requirements ?!?
I don’t get it.
Every business, institution, organization has to comply with the law or cease to exist.
Try to establish illegal activities in the US, France, Germany, Switzerland or UK and you quickly run into big problems.